Roswell Fanatics

Aeidon

When the pod squad decided to go to Roswell I felt I should go with them, so I decided to get the hell out of those sewers before it was to late and I had signed up to go on the “Let’s Save Crazy Serena” escapade.

I knew the moment they left the city. I felt her go, or at least I felt Ennie go. I know the exact moment Ennie was awaken in side of Serena. It had been a long time since I had felt her there. No more than a slight tingle in the back of my mind and I hadn’t even realized she had been gone for so long. That’s when I knew something was wrong.

I shouldn’t have been able to feel Ennie’s being. Ennie’s being consisted of power to great for any one person on Earth to posses and yet that night she was there. It wasn’t just a memory…….it was Enyanna. That’s how I knew Zan and Serena’s relationship had progressed into more.

So I stayed in New York. I pretended that I didn’t miss the tingle of knowing Ennie was close but I did. Three days past….I did my regular routine, until I felt Ennie again.

Her power was over whelming. The need to kill those who she felt threatening took over and the warrior who had been sleeping for so long was awaken and for a moment I thought it was only a memory of the past but then the moment was gone to quickly to be a memory. That was what made me leave the safety of the city, the thought that Ennie could come back to me…not Ennie the weaken, held back by Serena but Ennie the warrior that fought unmercifully.

*Max*

I wish I knew what this all meant. Why Nacedo kept this from us. Why he lied to us. Why he abandoned three of us in the first place. He could have found us twelve years ago and told us what we were, but he didn't.

What if Liz really is part of this? Part of me is glad to think that she might be, that my feelings for her were something real. The other part is afraid. I don't want my feeling to have been some genetic destiny. I want it to be me. Besides, none of this changes the fact that Tess is supposed to be my former 'wife.' I don't see Liz changing her mind on that just because she's one of the team. Would I be able to bear seeing her every day for the rest of my life, knowing that she doesn't want me?

Tess so far has been remarkably level about the notion that Liz is part of this. I might have expected her to freak out and deny it, to tell me again that I belong with her, but she hasn't done that. I wonder why.

I'm waiting fearfully to hear Zan's answer, to know for sure if Liz is part of this or not, but before he responds, the door behind us opens and Serena comes back.

“Innocence Lost!!!!” she screamed pointing at Liz. “He’ll take her innocence and then she’ll be his forever. He’ll wear a King’s face when he rips her open. Don’t you see???? He’s worn the face before and he’ll do it again!!!!”

I straighten immediately, standing between Liz and Serena as if she's the threat itself, not just the messenger. Someone taking Liz? Her innocence? I want to fight, to protect her, but against who? and how?

Zan goes to her and I wonder if this pronouncement is the only proof I'll get of Liz being the second. Why do I want more? I don't know. I just don't want her to be put in danger, although it seems it may already be too late for that. If this is all true, it was too late long before I ever met Liz...

“You don’t remember? You’ve been warned before…stubborn king can look upon lies rather listen to what his heart tells him…." she intones.

Which king? me or Zan? Or our old self? Which lies? I've always believed in facts, not emotion, but I let my heart lead me to Liz. My heart told me to be with Liz, not Tess, but that was a lie. But I don't think Serena is talking about that, is she? Is she talking about the past on Antar, or about here?

"Mirrors, mirrors everywhere.” Serena said looking around to Ava to Tess to Isabel to Vilondra to me to Zan and then to Liz. “Don’t you see life is a mirror…history always tries to repeat itself.”

I continued to try to shield Liz against nothing, but my hand slid backwards to hers, squeezing it tight at those words. I reached out for Isabel, too. I don't remember that other life, but I know I won't let my family be killed again. At least that makes it clear that the threat is from Antar, specifically, from Khivar. Wearing a different face must mean he's a shapeshifter. We'll need to find a way to be sure he doesn't get close by looking like one of us...

"We're not going to let it repeat," I promise aloud. "I won't let them kill you again."

Zan

“You don’t remember? You’ve been warned before…stubborn king can look upon lies rather listen to what his heart tells him….Mirrors, mirrors everywhere. Don’t you see life is a mirror…history always tries to repeat itself.”

Serena's words sent a shiver down my spine. Stubborn king can look upon lies rather listen to what his heart tells him . . . Why did she bear the weight of those distant memories? She was now reminding me that it had been my fault back then, in that life, for I hadn't heeded the warnings. And what she said about history repeating itself . . .

No, we couldn't let that happen. I wasn't going to allow it. Things were going to be different this time around.

“Zan, that doesn’t sound good,” I heard Ava say, a tinge of fear in her soft voice.

I took my hand away from Serena, still contemplating, still sorting out my fears.

Fears. I was supposed to be a king. I had to be weak to have such fears. That was probably how I'd led us all to the grave in the first place. I glanced at Max, who was holding Liz and Lonnie's double protectively and seemed to share my uncertainty. We. We were the same weakling of a king who'd refused to listen.

"We're not going to let it repeat. I won't let them kill you again," Max said aloud.

I turned to face him. Kill you again. Who was he referring to? The family, the Royals? Or Liz? Who?

"You're damn right we won't," I tossed in firmly.

I recalled the questions Max had thrown my way just before Serena had shown up. To be honest, I didn't have an answer to that. Maybe they could tell just by instinct. Maybe Serena would respond to her other half- and if what she'd just displayed was a subconscious display of response, then that much was done. Damn it, for all I knew maybe he had to sleep with Liz to find out.

This was where Aeidon should have stepped in.

"As far as I know, Max, healing Serena didn't change her," I said, carefully choosing my words. "But she has powers now, ever since . . . this happened. Still, she has no control over them, not really."

I paused for a while, looking at my Second again. What was she to me, really? Did I care that she was my Second-in-Command? Or was I more interested in saving Serena, the real Serena Seabrook? "As to how we can find out for sure whether Liz is or isn't your Second . . . there really isn't a surefire way, not that I know of. Your protector should know, but from what I understand, we won't be able to rely on him for answers."

I wondered how he died, though. Khivar's men? Or something else?

It seemed to me that Liz, though she suspected it, was not sure about this herself. Serena had been the same. So we'd come all the way, expecting that they'd already know their Second, and they didn't, so now we had to find out who it was but we didn't know how.

I thought about checking any alien trinkets they might possess, but that was no good. None of ours had pointed this way- not that we understood them.

"But . . . maybe Serena . . . maybe Serena has the answer, somewhere in there," I uttered, not quite sure of what I was really getting at. Well, deep inside her, it had to be there. If she knew so much about our past life, she had to know something about this one. But that didn't make sense. We needed their Second to help Serena- not Serena to help find their Second.

Or maybe it made perfect sense. Everything was linked to each other anyway, right? Perhaps it had to work both ways, requiring equal effort from either party- Serena and Liz.

*Max*

Zan repeats my vow and inside me a small smile is born. It's so strange that there are two of me. He seems to feel exactly the same way I do, which makes sense, but it's still strange to see my own reactions mirrored in him. I look at Zan, suddenly seeing him as more than a clone, but maybe, as a partner. The royal four won't be enough, Serena said. Maybe ten of us will be. And if we still have Maria and Alex and Kyle and the Sheriff, if that counts...

I force myself to relax my stance. Serena isn't the enemy. She's here for help and now I'm beginning to get an idea of what the problem is.

"As far as I know, Max, healing Serena didn't change her, but she has powers now, ever since . . . this happened. Still, she has no control over them, not really," Zan said and I felt fear. Fear for Liz. What if this happens to her? If it wasn't the healing then what DID cause her to have powers now?

"As to how we can find out for sure whether Liz is or isn't your Second . . . there really isn't a surefire way, not that I know of. Your protector should know, but from what I understand, we won't be able to rely on him for answers. But . . . maybe Serena . . . maybe Serena has the answer, somewhere in there," he said, sounding unsure.

Everything Zan had told us about the second had made me think of Liz. Even she had come to that conclusion. But Serena's actions were completely definative. She seemed like a crazy person, unable to speak a straight sentance and yet somehow making perfect sense... "She certain did seem to have confirmed Liz," I say, trying not to sound unsure. "And I'm guessing she wasn't always like that ... the riddles and accusations. What happened to her? What caused it?"

I look at Liz again, still unsure about turning my back on Serena. She seems to be uncontrolled and I'm not sure how far I can trust her right now. I look at Liz, rubbing her hand gently. "Zan said my second would be able to make Serena well again. Do you have any ... powers?"

I would have thought that even if she didn't love me, she still would have told me if that were true, but now I'm not sure about anything...

Serena

She stared at Max and Liz’s entwined hands. It was almost as if she couldn’t take her eyes off of the display of affection. A distant memory on the edge of her mind. His lips on her, burning her up all over. Was that this life or the one before? She didn’t know. His eyes no longer guarded, they shown with love and she didn’t know how she could have missed it before. Love. They loved. They are in love? Too many thoughts and feelings hitting her at once and she was drawn back into confusion.

Her hand reached up and gingerly touched her own lips while she continued to stare at there hands closed tightly around, showing they belonged to each other. But that wasn’t right. There not supposed to be together, don’t they know they have to pretend they don’t love each other. No, not love…lust…no, love, no love and lust within the same moment making her explode.

She looked up at Max who was talking to the others then back at Liz. He loves her hair because its so soft. They both have hair fetishes its seems. The memory hits her like a tone of bricks but its not her own. She hates feeling everything, knowing things she couldn’t, seeing things she shouldn’t. But she does anyway.

She had started picking up on things after he healed her. She didn’t even realize she was doing it. She knew when someone was upset, she knew when someone couldn’t be trusted, she just knew. Aeidon had told her she was starting to pick up on people’s emotions and thoughts. It was a gift the women of his kind had, well there kind. They weren’t Anatarian, they were different. One more reason not to get involved, always on the outside looking in, not part of the Four Square, just different.

She looked back at the other boy king, so different from her own, but yet so much the same, so confusing, two where once there was one. This ones haunted by white demons, everyday he carries them around with him. Serena wants to know more so she pushes a little deeper…

White lights, pain, cold so very cold in such a bright room. How can it be so cold? All alone with white walls for company. His memories are loud and painful, so she puts her hands over her ears, to block out his screaming. “Too Loud” she whispers to herself before pulling herself out of his head. He doesn’t trust her and he probably shouldn’t, he has severe trust issues, especially after he saw what she wanted him to.

"Zan said my second would be able to make Serena well again. Do you have any ... powers?" he tells the girl he loves but holds back what he’s thinking. She laughs. “Not sure about anything because you let your eyes deceive. Deceiving eyes, shouldn’t listen to them, should look inside not outside. Stupid, boy king.” She says before looking around the room and finding a exhibit that is in her mind… terrifying. A manikin dressed as a doctor leaning over an surgical table with a fake alien on it.

She’s terrified but also fascinated at the same time, mumbling to herself as she heads in the direction of the exhibit, “I can take you apart piece by piece, and make sure that you stay conscious enough to feel every second of it.” Ava hot on her heals as she walks over to get a closer to investigate. She jumped up on the surgical table in one fluid movement. She bends over to get a closer look at the fake alien. Keeping her hands behind her back as she stares at it, her long hair barely brushing against the table.

Ava mumbling something about she was going to fall and break her neck but as usual Serena doesn’t respond just stares at the stuffed alien as if trying to decide what to make of it.

*Max*

“Not sure about anything because you let your eyes deceive. Deceiving eyes, shouldn’t listen to them, should look inside not outside. Stupid, boy king.” Serena says and I spin around, staring at her. She might have been talking about Zan but somehow I'm sure she meant me. This is the third time she's talked about deception. What does she think I'm being fooled by? Stupid boy king.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, but she doesn't pay any attention. Will she explain more plainly once Liz has helped her, if she can?

Serena ignores me. She's staring at the alien autopsy exhibit. One I'd been unable to work with until only about a month ago, always coming up with some excuse for some more urgent task. Sometimes I think I'm getting past it. Other times, I'm sure it will be with me until the day I die.

“I can take you apart piece by piece, and make sure that you stay conscious enough to feel every second of it.”

The words cut through me. Something in her tone, or the way she's standing over the alien manikin is exactly like Peirce. It brings me back to the white room and I'm filled with with remembered fear.

She jumped up on the surgical table in one fluid movement. She bends over to get a closer look at the fake alien. Keeping her hands behind her back as she stares at it, her long hair barely brushing against the table. Serena just stares at the stuffed alien as if trying to decide what to make of it.

"Stop it!" I shout, leaping after her. "Stop it!" I grab her arms and swing her down off the table. "What are you doing? Even Liz doesn't know these things. Stay out of my head!"

Zan has come after us and I know he's going to protect Serena. I push myself back, releasing her. I step back and turn away from everyone, hoping they can't see my face. I used the same words against Peirce when we'd captured him. I'm sure I over-reacted; Isabel probably would have assumed it was that if I hadn't jumped up, but I'd forgotten all about that. And I'm sure that Serena saw the other things ...

What if Liz has seen it, too? If she has the same powers she might have been in there. She might have seen how helpless and scared I was. How much pain and terror. How I'd screamed like a child. I'd tried to hold it back, but I couldn't. Is that why she decided not to love me anymore? Because she saw that I was weak? She's probably right...

I squeeze my hands together, trying to stop their trembling. I want to leave, like Michael did. Get away. But I can't. I have to stay and make this right for everyone-else.

*Tess*

I watch Max go over and grab Serena pulling her off the table and yelling at her. I don't remember a time I've ever seen him so angry."Stop it! What are you doing? Even Liz doesn't know these things. Stay out of my head!" Max yells, his face full of fear and anger and pain.

I stay near Liz though I want to go over and help calm Max down but I stand my ground and it isn't until Ava goes over and slaps him across the face that I feel like I may lose control at any minute.“How do you think she feels? She sees everything, she feels everything. Whatever happened to you I’m sure you would never wish it on your worst enemy, but you know what? She can feel everything you felt, every fear, every pain! It’s like she was right there experiencing the same thing. She didn’t ask for this!”Ava yells and I can't help but understand where she's coming from.
No one deserves to go through what Serena went through.

“Going into other people’s heads probably helps her so she doesn’t have to go back into the nightmare of her own mind. And I’ll tell you this! You ever touch her again I’ll kill you! It might be against her programming to harm you but it certainly isn’t against mine!” Ava continues her eyes angry. I feel Liz tense beside me and I sit down next to her trying to keep myself from going after Ava for threatening Max. I wish Michael were still here but he and Maria left and who knows if he's still around.

I watch Max's dupe try to approach Serena but all she does is scream and then I hear Ava tell Max to apoligize to her. I look over at Max and can tell he really doesn't want to do it. This is just great. First Max makes our dupes mad by threatening their second and now he's standing a good chance of one of them hurting them. "Max apoligize to her. It's not her fault!" I say surprised that I'm saying this but find that's how I really feel.

Zan

"She certain did seem to have confirmed Liz," Max said, voicing my own thoughts. "What happened to her? What caused it?"

What did happen, what actually caused it? Man, I wasn't about to announce to the world. One blasted night blew everything apart, is that what he wanted to hear?

"Zan said my second would be able to make Serena well again. Do you have any ... powers?" he asked Liz.

I figured that even if she did have them, she probably didn't know it. Serena hadn't shown any signs of it, unless she'd been keeping it from me the whole time. But that couldn't be . . .

I watched Serena closely as she in turn gazed at Max. What did she see? Why did she pay such close attention to him? “Not sure about anything because you let your eyes deceive. Deceiving eyes, shouldn’t listen to them, should look inside not outside. Stupid, boy king," she said, and then turned to an exhibit in the room.

My eyes grew wide when she looked at the mannequin of a doctor leaning over a dummy of an alien and uttered, “I can take you apart piece by piece, and make sure that you stay conscious enough to feel every second of it.”

It sounded so terrifying, because we were those aliens. There had to be a reason to why she'd said that. I dashed after her but Ava was quicker than me. Serena, though, was faster than all of us because before we'd realised it, she'd made her way to the top of the surgical table. Now standing over the fake alien, she was sure to lose her balance. I hurried to get her down, but was beaten to it.

"Stop it! Stop it!"

It all happened so quickly. Max had grabbed her by the arms and swung her down and off the table. What was the bastard thinking? He could have hurt her! The tone of his voice and the expression on his face didn't show worry, but strangely, anger. "What are you doing? Even Liz doesn't know these things. Stay out of my head!" he yelled, still grasping her by the arms.

"What the hell-!" escaped from my lips as I rushed to them.

Max quickly pulled away and took a step backwards, now facing the other way as if embarassed. But I couldn't care less about what was going through his mind at that moment. I took hold of Serena, no longer worried about showing too much of my feelings for her. This wasn't the time to conceal them. The hell with whatever Raith or Lonnie or whoever else thoght of it. I held Serena at arm's length and looked into her eyes as I had done so many times before.

I heard Ava shedding her usual timid quality as she blasted at Max, “How do you think she feels? She sees everything, she feels everything. Whatever happened to you I’m sure you would never wish it on your worst enemy, but you know what? She can feel everything you felt, every fear, every pain! It’s like she was right there experiencing the same thing. She didn’t ask for this!”

I felt my jaw clench as I closed my eyes for a while, my body trembling with fury. Serena did feel all those things, see and hear and sense what we felt. Sometimes I wondered, Serena why don't you see what I see, why don't you feel what I feel, why can't you tell that I want nothing more than to bring you back, why won't you help me do this one thing? If she felt it and if she knew what was going on in my mind and heart as she seemed to have been doing with Max - whatever his emotions - why couldn't she respond to me . . . Couldn't, or wouldn't . . .

Serena began to shake loose from my grip as Ava went on. “Going into other people’s heads probably helps her so she doesn’t have to go back into the nightmare of her own mind. And I’ll tell you this! You ever touch her again I’ll kill you! It might be against her programming to harm you but it certainly isn’t against mine!” she bellowed at Max with a power that I had never seen in her before.

Ava's screaming seemed to have triggered something in Serena now for she had crouched on the floor and was holding her hands over ears. I tried to touch her but every time I did it, she shrieked. I heard Ava demanding that Max apologise to Serena and it seemed that her double was saying the same to him.

"Serena . . ." I whispered, trying to get her to calm down. But she only shrieked again.

Out of my mind with fury, I charged at my dupe and disregarding the degree of roughness I applied, I slammed him against the nearest wall. I grabbed Max by the collar and glared at him, my free hand balled into a fist and held up in the air, threatening to bring down a punch. "Don't you dare so much as lay a finger on her, you fucking bastard. I am this close to blowing your brains out right now."